A musty smell when the AC kicks on, black specks on the registers or water under the attic air handler can each mean mold is growing inside your HVAC system. Here's what each sign usually points to in a Central Texas home, and what to do about it.
Your AC pulls water out of the air every time it runs, and in Austin it runs most of the day for five or six months a year. That water should drip off the coil into the drain pan and out the drain line. Wherever it doesn’t drain, or wherever a cold duct in a very hot attic meets humid air, mold can grow. Once it’s in the system, the blower carries spores and odor to every room.
One sign alone proves nothing. Two or three together are worth a closer look.
A musty odor that arrives with the airflow and fades after a few minutes usually starts inside the system: a wet drain pan, a dirty coil, contaminated cabinet insulation or damp ducts. A smell that hangs around all the time more often points to the house itself, such as a leak inside a wall, with the ducts spreading it from room to room. Mold in a wall is a job for a general mold remediation company; the HVAC side is ours.
Sometimes, but the usual culprit is condensation. Cold supply air meets humid room air, the grille sweats, and the damp metal collects dust that mold can grow on. The spots can also be plain dust or soot. If they come back soon after you wipe them off, or show up on many registers at once, the source may be inside the ducts or air handler. See our page on mold in air ducts.
It means water isn’t leaving the system the way it should. Standing water in the drain pan, rust, a drain line that never drips outside, or a ceiling stain under an attic unit all point the same way, and it’s one of the fastest routes to mold in an AC unit. A clogged drain can often be cleared in one service visit; what matters is catching it before water sits for weeks. Learn more about coil and air handler restoration.
Mold in your AC system or ductwork? Gold Eagle Services is a licensed Texas mold remediation company that handles HVAC mold: the air handler, coil, drain pan and ducts. We clean or replace what’s contaminated and fix the moisture that caused it. We don’t test or inspect for mold; an independent, licensed mold assessor does that, and we can refer you to one. Mold in walls, the attic or your belongings goes to a general mold remediation company, and we handle the HVAC side alongside them. Health questions belong with a doctor.
Where to go from here:
These guides go deeper on spotting HVAC mold, keeping humidity down and what a mold test can and can’t tell you.
Tell us what you're seeing or smelling, and where your air handler sits (attic, closet or garage). Our team will get back to you to set up a visit.
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